The Hospitality Club is the world's largest hospitality exchange organization. We are thousands of friendly members world wide who offer each other free accommodation when traveling. Membership is free and joining just takes a minute - we would love to have you onboard!

Singapore is more than a clean city that prohibits chewing gum. The remaining colonial architecture, the close intermix of many different cultures and religions, resulting in colorful, friendly people living in peace and harmony, as well as delicious cuisine are more than good reason why you should stop by and check it out.

Singapore, or rather Singapura, was founded by Sang Nila Utama. According to the 13th century Malay Annals, the prince spotted a creature he believed to be a lion and named the island "Singa pura" (Lion City) from which the current name, Singapore was derived from.

Sir Stamford Raffles of the East India Company arrived in Singapore in 1819 and saw the potential to develop the island into a thriving trading port. Singapore became part of the British Straits Settlements from 1826-1946 and was briefly under Japanese rule from 1942-1945. The Crown Colony of Singapore was established from 1946-1959 and Singapore was a member in the Federation of Malaya from 1963 till her independence in 1965.

"Singapore is a small country on a small island, but with over four million people it's a fairly crowded city and in fact second only to Monaco as the world's most densely populated country. The center of the city — consisting roughly of Orchard, the Riverside and a chunk of Chinatown — is known in acronym-loving Singapore as the CBD (Central Business District). Riverside — (also known as Civil District); Museums, statues and theaters, not to mention restaurants, bars and clubs. Orchard Road — Miles and miles of shopping malls. Bugis and Kampong Glam — Bugis and Kampong Glam are Singapore's old Malay district, now largely taken over by mall-shopping, although Arab Street in the Kampong Glam area is well worth a visit for its eclectic mix of unique shops and restaurants. Chinatown — The area originally designated for Chinese settlement by Stamford Raffles. Now a Cantonese enclave in predominantly Hokkien Singapore. Little India — A piece of India to the north of the city core. Balestier, Newton, Novena and Toa Payoh — Budget accommodations and Burmese temples within striking distance of the center. North and West — The northern and western parts of the island, also known as Woodlands and Jurong respectively, form Singapore's residential and industrial hinterlands. East Coast — The largely residential eastern part of the island contains Changi Airport and many famous eateries. Katong is located in the East Coast and is famous for its Peranakan food, such as laksa. Joo Chiat has some well-restored Peranakan houses with characteristic intricate architecture. Also consists of Geylang Serai, the true home of Singapore's Malays. Sentosa — A separate island developed into a resort, Sentosa is the closest that Singapore gets to Disneyland." taken from http://wikitravel.org/en/Singapore. The Singapore flag consists of two horizontal halves, red above white. The red symbolises universal brotherhood and equality of men; the white symbolises purity and virtue. In the upper left corner (in the red top half of the flag), a white crescent moon and five white stars form a circle. The crescent moon represents a young nation on the rise and the five stars stand for the country's ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.

Who is coming?
houshuang is coming to renew his visa :) will be around from late Monday night 20th to the 26th althouhg possibly with a peek up to Malaysia. Might need a place to sleep for a few days, might not, but would definitively like to meet up with anyone and everyone!

Want more guests!merdekawaty We would definitely like more guests/ members to visit this island republic.

Hospitality Club Meetings
There's an active community of HCers in Singapore. We have frequent gatherings, dinners, drinks, clubbing and just basically hanging out and have a good time. There's also a google group (http://groups.google.com/group/hc-singapore) you can visit. If you're a new member, do join the group and it gives you a chance to get to know like-minded people.

The first one was at Marche Muvenpick at Suntec City on Saturday May 20th 2006 at 7pm-11pm. A wonderful crowd of around 20 of 8 nationalities attended, comprising of Singapore HCers, overseas HCers and non-HCers. Proudly organised by jojolapin.
Stay tuned for the next one coming later!